Slow-Motion Disaster: Wyoming Landslide Rips Apart House

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A creeping landslide threatening homes and businesses since early
April in Jackson, Wyo., suddenly lurched Friday, tearing apart a
house.

While landslides
are common along the steep slopes fronting the nearby Teton
Range, the crumbling hillside is a rare occurrence in the
mountain resort town, according to news reports.

Officials first noticed the slumping hillside at East Gros Ventre
Butte on April 4, and evacuated 42 homes and apartments on April
9, the
Jackson Hole News & Guide reported. The landslide was
initially moving a few inches each day, but between Thursday,
April 17, and Friday, April 18, the earth rapidly advanced by up
to 10 feet (3 meters) in some spots, according to a city press
release. The hillside has slid a total of 15 feet (4.5 m) in some
spots, despite concrete buttresses meant to slow its movement.

The sudden lurch Friday ripped apart a house at the head of the
slide when the earth beneath it dropped. The speed-up also
destroyed the road leading to a neighborhood built on the butte,
cutting off the only public access, and ruptured a sewer line,
the News & Guide reported. [ See
Live Webcast of the Slow-Motion Landslide ]

The mass earth movement also threatens a main road through town,
West Broadway, and a water main — both at the toe of the
landslide. The city has set up a live webcam to monitor the
slow-motion disaster.

City officials and private geologists are investigating the
landslide's cause. Recent construction, a wet winter and the
natural geology of the area could all be contributing factors.

Jackson Hole valley's worst landslide disaster was in 1927, two
years after a landslide dammed the Gros Ventre River. The
landslide dam failed and flooded the town of Kelly, killing six
people. The town of Jackson is about 13 miles (21 kilometers)
south of the deadly landslide site.